aluminum top

[HankN]

Hi. Does anyone know if I can buy the aluminum top from a shark pro plus so that I can upgrade my shark pro?

[Buc]

Hank,

Your best bet would be to contact NewsWaveAutomation. http://shop.nextwaveautomation.com/shop/ When the Pro + first came out their were posts on upgrades, not sure what came of that.

Buc

[PeteD]

Rockler sells the aluminium peices that make up the top

[fison]

It takes about 9 or 10 of them and then you need to fabricate a mount for them. I'm working on getting all the pieces to upgrade my Pro. I've got 5 and I'm waiting for the local Rockler store to get some more in.

Now if I could just get someone at Rockler or Nextwave to sell me a new controller I'd be set.

[Haltex]

I got on the net and found some 3 inch aluminum exstution and was a good price its been on my Pro for for about a yr, its done a great job and is very strong. I had to buy 10 3 inch x 36 and fit wite on and not much work to it.

[rungemach]

I used the 1030 T slot extrusions from 8020 Inc and am very happy with the results.

http://www.8020.net/T-Slot-4.asp

The 1030 is thicker than the Rockler product and should deflect less under load. In either case it is good to have some strips holding the back sides of the extrusions together to gain extra strength when one section is pushed or pulled up or down by a clamp when it bridges sections. I routed small openings in the channels of my extrusions to allow the T head of clamping bolts to drop down into any of the channels. That can be easily done to the extrusions before you mount them up.

I believe Jerry Burks used the 1530 series on his "Big Bamboo" machine. The 1520 is 1.5 inches thick by 3 wide and should be even stronger than the 1030 which is one inch by three. In hindsight, It might be worth considering that size. as you add thickness, the strength goes up significantly.

This thread may be helpful to you.
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... 0&start=10

Bob

[Loudspeakerboy]

I knew my MDF deck was completely wacked!.. but figured I'd upgrade to an aluminum deck eventually. Just tonight.. I took a straight edge to have a look at how bad it was.. and Woof !! On that note.. I just purchased 6, 36" pieces of 8020, 1030, extruded aluminum for my CNC Shark "base model". With the 6 pieces of 1030, 2 18" pieces of 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 x 1/4" angle, and the mounting hardware it came to $200 even. Not bad..

Pictures once complete.

Happy New Years! Michael

[Haltex]

Yes I have done my Pro the same way and I am liking the resalts that I got. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year

[DRMRDR]

I wish Rockler would make Pro Plus owners some kind of a deal to upgrade into a HD model. That way we wouldn't be making all these changes to make our machines better
Dave

[Kryptik]

Watched a You Tube vid by a guy called something farm, can't remember .. showing a straight edge on his Plus.
Had never thought to do it, so did...OMFG!!
I like Bobs (Rungemach) 8020 setup, I think that is the way to go. I shouldn't have a collection of planed boards for placing under different jobs at different parts of the machine !
I also want to put supported bearings on the Y, my initial thoughts would be an outrigger arrangement to support the gantry so as to avoid the need to re-engineer the whole table.
I bought the Plus on the strength of Tim telling me there was going to be an extension kit available for it this month which fitted in with my plans well. As this is now not the case, it will become a DIY job